


Fortune and Glory

by ladynerdynerd (sparrowsword)



Series: This Unbreakable Bond [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Bonding, Emotional Baggage, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kid Fic, Parent Yondu Udonta, Parent-Child Relationship, Young Peter, getting to know you getting to know all about you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-10 21:05:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11699883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparrowsword/pseuds/ladynerdynerd
Summary: ‘’Ya don’t wanna worry your head none about women right now, boy,’’ he said, his tone teasing and somewhat foreboding all at once – the voice of a man who had been there and done it already. ‘’You got more important things to think about.’’‘’Like what?’’





	Fortune and Glory

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to do a little series! I've changed the title of my other story, This Unbreakable Bond, to Starry Starry Night so that I can use the previous title for the title of the series overall...I've said title too much XD
> 
> Anyhoo, this one is set a few months before Starry Starry Night. Enjoy!

If there was one thing Yondu was grateful for, it was shore leave. 

Extended periods of time in space, though not unusual, began to test the nerves and patience of everybody aboard the Eclector after a while. Fights started over nothing, all sense of humour was lost and frustration in its many forms tainted the air. 

Pulling job after job with no break was tough, even for the greediest of Ravagers, so it was a huge relief to all, especially Yondu, when they finally made port after a particularly gruelling run that had left them all thoroughly fed up and exhausted. 

They’d come to Antafsy, a popular pleasure planet, for their downtime and relaxation – or for plenty of drinking, gambling and sating carnal needs in the case of most of the crew. The men, after being given strict instructions on no maiming, killing, stealing or reporting back to the ship late, had shot off like a hoard of rabid dogs – even Kraglin had practically skipped off into the approaching evening to find the nearest brothel without so much as a wave goodbye. 

Yondu, however, had taken the opportunity to spirit the boy away into the bustling market area, keeping him close as they weaved through the crowds to look at what was on offer. Peter had watched with wide eyes as Yondu haggled and bartered over various trinkets and treasures - he wasn’t sure if it was the cajoling tone of the captain’s voice or the suggestive danger in his red eyes that made the vendors agree so quickly with him each time. 

Peter had been travelling aboard the Eclector for six months now and, while still a little shy and reserved, was beginning to come out of his shell, to get the idea of how life as a Ravager worked. Yondu had just finished haggling with a small squid-like creature for some parts that would come in handy for repair work on the ship when a small hand tugged at his sleeve. Upon looking down, he was presented with a rather bulky looking purse being held up by a coy but obviously proud Terran. 

Yondu’s eyes had flitted between boy and purse a few times before a wide grin broke out on his face, sharp teeth glinting in the rays of the two suns that hung low in the sky. 

‘’Atta boy!’’ Yondu ruffled Peter’s hair as he crowed with boisterous laughter. ‘’We’ll make a Ravager out of you yet!’’ 

So delighted was Yondu that he even let Peter keep the purse, placing it securely in the kid’s backpack before heading off at his usual brisk pace that had Peter hurrying to keep up with him. They soon came to a stop within a small crowd standing in front of a large cart from which a vast array of scents emanated from. Plastered on the front of the cart was a picture guide of the various foods on offer; some were fairly tame looking whereas others were garish in both colour and shape. Peter frowned thoughtfully at the pictures before watching the other customers curiously as they walked away with their choices, all tucking in with gusto. 

‘’Pick something, boy.’’ Yondu instructed with a wave towards the cart. 

‘’O-okay,’’ Peter murmured, peering at the pictures again. 

After a few minutes had passed, Yondu growled and gave him a small shove. 

‘’C’mon, Quill! I ain’t got all day.’’ 

Peter scowled up at him. ‘’I don’t know what any of these are!’’ 

Yondu rolled his eyes. ‘’Ain’t gonna kill ya, whatever you pick.’’ 

Peter looked at him doubtfully before returning his attention back to the cart. The Centaurian sighed wearily and leant against a nearby wall, accepting that the boy would take his sweet time regardless of what Yondu said. 

It had taken a while for Peter to warm up to Yondu; the first two months had seen the boy crying rivers of tears and flinching away from anybody who came near him, particularly the more unsympathetic members of the crew. Even though there had been children aboard the ship in the past – something that Yondu would rather forget – hardly anybody on board knew how to really interact with one, at least not on such a regular basis. 

Aside from introducing the boy to the crew and instructing them all to keep their teeth to themselves, Yondu didn’t have much to do with Peter for a while. The boy had morosely trailed after Kraglin most of the time, plugged himself into his music box and remained silent unless spoken to directly. Yondu had known that the boy was terrified, was grieving for his mama, but as far as he was concerned, all of that was a damn sight better than handing the boy over to his jackass of a father, something he had decided against even before he had picked Quill up on Terra. 

Three months in, Yondu had found Peter sat on the floor of the bridge by his chair, looking up curiously at the toys that decorated Yondu’s console whilst he waited patiently for Kraglin to finish whatever the hell he had been doing. Yondu hadn’t said a word as he walked past Peter, paying no mind to the way the boy had recoiled at his presence, and dropped into his chair where he had promptly selected one of the more durable trinkets and tossed it into the boy’s lap. 

Peter’s slack-jawed expression had made the Centaurian chuckle and, for reasons he still couldn’t really explain without tripping into sentimental territory, he’d regaled the boy with the story of how he had acquired the trinket; in this case, a surprising encounter with a freaky Kylorian woman during a raid had resulted in Yondu swiping the figure from her nightstand, merely as a souvenir from what had been one of the most insane nights of his life. 

Of course, he told Quill that he’d stolen it from a fearsome bandit after an epic gunfight. 

He’d finished the story to find Peter gazing at him in open fascination, utterly captivated by Yondu’s tale. When the boy had come to find him later on to show him a toy so hideous that it was adorable with its bright orange hair and bug eyes, just because he had thought Yondu might like to see it, Yondu knew things would be different from then on. 

After that, wherever Yondu was, Peter wasn’t far behind. He’d kept the boy at bay as best he could, but the crew was beginning to talk nonetheless; Yondu didn’t need Kraglin to report back to him about the whispers filling the ship to know that there was talk of him going soft, of favouring the boy. Short of maiming a crew member every week and scaring the shit out of Quill to prove his way was still law, Yondu could do nothing else hope that the fear and respect he already commanded, along with the sharp trill of his whistle, would continue to be enough. 

Jerked from his thoughts by Peter’s voice, Yondu bent forward to peer at the picture Peter was pointing at. He grunted his acknowledgement and gave an approving nod. 

‘’Good choice, boy,’’ he said, reaching into his pocket for some units and placing them in Peter’s hand. 

Peter looked at the money, then up at the owner of the cart – a rotund yellow reptile-like creature with three eyes and no chin – then back at Yondu. 

‘’Wasamatter, Quill?’’ 

‘’I…um…can you…’’ 

Peter looked back at the cart again and sighed. With a shake of his head, he held the money back out to Yondu, his cheeks flushed with red. 

Yondu rolled his eyes as realisation dawned on him. Boy was gonna need to toughen up if he was gonna make it out amongst the stars. 

Cuffing Peter softly round the head, Yondu grabbed the units and stalked up to the cart to order the food. Handing Peter a container, he jerked his head at a nearby seating area and the two of them sat down, both on the table instead of the seats, facing out towards the crowds. 

Peter carefully opened the container and stared at the contents. He’d chosen it because it somewhat resembled a cheeseburger and fries…if the burger was made of blue cow and the fries were filled with green juice. His fingers danced uncertainly over the food for a moment before he carefully picked up the burger, or whatever the hell it was, and gingerly took a bite. 

Yondu fought the urge to laugh at the surprised delight on the boy’s face. ‘’Good, huh?’’ 

Peter nodded and took another much more enthusiastic bite, and then another and another until his cheeks bulged out comically. 

‘’Swallow some first, ya idjit,’’ Yondu reprimanded. ‘’Ain’t takin’ care of you if you end up makin’ yourself sick.’’ 

Peter nodded again and slowed down, a sheepish smile tugging at his greasy lips. He plucked up one of the fries and took a delicate bite, jerking forward as green liquid oozed down his chin but grinning as the taste hit his tongue. 

‘’This is really good!’’ he exclaimed, shoving more into his mouth. ‘’Tastes like jelly beans!’’ 

Yondu had no goddamn idea what a jelly bean was, but he couldn’t really blame the kid for his enthusiasm; food aboard the Eclector was hardly gourmet and sometimes, depending on who was on kitchen duty, it was downright inedible. Maybe it was about time he hired a damn cook… 

A sharp coughing sound had him immediately smacking Peter hard on the back. ‘’Goddamn it, boy, I done told you…’’ He trailed off as he realised that Peter wasn’t even listening to him and was staring straight ahead as though transfixed by something. 

Yondu followed Peter’s gaze and smirked when it landed on a girl standing by the cart. She was a cute little thing; a couple of years older than Peter, violet skin, long light hair and a smile that lit up her face when the man she was with, her father no doubt, handed her the treat she’d been asking for. 

‘’Like the older women do ya, boy?’’ 

Peter’s skin practically turned crimson and he looked away from the girl to scowl at Yondu. It was a sign of how the boy was growing in confidence; mere months ago he would have been more likely to throw himself out of the airlock than even look at Yondu, let alone glare at him. 

Yondu snorted and ruffled his hair roughly. ‘’Just messin’ with ya, kid.’’ 

They fell into a companionable silence for a while, Peter picking at his food whilst sneaking surreptitious glances at the girl and Yondu people watching and lazily picking his teeth, until - 

‘’Have you ever been married?’’ 

Yondu blinked at him before letting out a laugh so loud that it made Peter jump. 

‘’Do I look like the marryin’ type to you, Quill?’’ 

‘’What about girlfriends?’’ 

Yondu didn’t answer. 

‘’Boyfriends?’’ 

‘’Whatchu say, boy?!’’ 

Peter ducked the swipe that Yondu threw at him, a playful smile pulling at his lips. Yondu gave him a glare that was only a little bit threatening before returning his attention to the crowd. 

‘’Romance really ain’t my forte,’’ he said after a moment. 

‘’There must have been someone…sometime?’’ 

A wistful smile flickered onto Yondu’s face. There had been someone sometime; a woman as beautiful as she was deadly, a woman of fierce spirit and passion, a woman who could set Yondu’s blood ablaze with one touch. She had belonged to the stars, just like Yondu, and wanderers of the skies were never meant for a simple life, but on the nights where their ships would pass not by coincidence and she’d appear in his doorway, eyes alight with nothing but desire and longing and something real for him, Yondu could almost convince himself that it was possible for it to be as simple, as easy, as _goddamn sweet_ as this. 

It all changed in the end though – changed when she found out he’d been picking up Ego’s kids – and when she died sometime later, just before he picked up Quill on Terra, Yondu swore that she’d taken half the stars in the skies along with her. 

‘’Yondu?’’ 

Peter peered at him curiously, concern tugging his brows down in a little frown. It was the first time that he had really shown an ounce of concern or care for the Centaurian, and it made Yondu feel odd to be on the receiving end of it. 

After a moment, Yondu cleared his throat gruffly, reached over to snatch a handful of the sweet fries and shoved them unceremoniously into his mouth, making a point of grinning at the boy as the juices oozed between his teeth. 

Peter grimaced in disgust and returned his attention to where the girl stood, only to find that she was gone. Yondu chuckled as a look of disappointment crossed the boy’s face before standing up, stretching his neck until it cracked. 

‘’Better luck next time, kid.’’ 

Peter turned bright red again, closed the container and hopped down from the bench, only to be swept up into a playful headlock that resulted in him protectively clutching his food to his chest as Yondu dragged him along through the market. 

‘’Ya don’t wanna worry your head none about women right now, boy,’’ he said, his tone teasing and somewhat foreboding all at once – the voice of a man who had been there and done it already. ‘’You got more important things to think about.’’ 

‘’Like what?’’ 

Yondu released him just enough to hook an arm over his shoulders, using his other arm to point upwards. High above them was a vast canvas of colour; pinks and purples bleeding from the settings suns, slipping under the black blanket of the night sky that paved the way to all the stars that lay above and beyond. The air around them turned a soft gold, painting everything in an ethereal glow that made Peter gasp. 

‘’Like adventure, boy,’’ Yondu rasped softly, feeling something spark to life inside him as he watched Peter’s freckles flicker like stardust in the retreating light, his eyes shining bright with wonder. ''Like fortune and glory.'' 

‘’Fortune and glory?’’ 

Peter’s awed whisper had Yondu grinning like a damn fool. 

‘’Fortune and glory.’’

**Author's Note:**

> Dear god, I have so many headcanons for the characters in this film. The woman that Yondu was thinking about is no character in particular, just someone I dreamt up for the purpose of this fic - it stems from the idea of there being a deeper meaning behind Yondu using those sex bots instead of having relations with a real life person, though for all I know he could just prefer it! 
> 
> I'm also aware that Yondu may come across a bit too soft in this - I reckon that the relationship between Yondu and Peter became fractured when Peter hit the more rebellious stage of his teenage years and began acting out, meaning Yondu had to come down really hard on him to avoid being seen as soft by the others, though clearly it didn't work considering what happens in the movies! Still, cos of that I think they would have had a somewhat decent relationship when Peter was younger and that's why he's able to be a bit less scary space pirate in this. 
> 
> And yes, the last part was heavily inspired by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - I was watching it the other day and Indy and Shorty just instantly reminded me of Peter and Yondu haha! 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed! I'll add more as the ideas come...if they come XD


End file.
